A new report by top Doc, Professor Dame Sally Davies, warns parents are failing to spot danger signs in kids and also slams larger shop mannequins for "size inflation"

Millions of overweight people are now seen as normal, an expert has warned.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies says the average Briton is now too fat. But many are risking their health by convincing themselves they are “about the right weight”.

In her annual report Dame Sally also warns that parents are failing to spot the danger signs in children.

And she accuses stores of normalising the obesity crisis. She says: “Larger mannequins are being introduced into clothes shops and ‘size inflation’ means clothes with the same size label have become larger in recent decades.

“And news stories about weight often feature pictures of severely obese people, which are unrepresentative of the majority of overweight people.”

Dame Sally called for more exercise and less sitting on the sofa. She says adults should do at least 2.5 hours of moderate activity every week.

At present around 40% are not achieving this, while some fail to do any exercise at all – spending more than 27 hours a week glued to the telly. Dame Sally also reiterates her belief that a sugar tax may be needed to combat obesity.

She suggests it should be considered if firms ignore pressure to make products healthier.

Nearly 33 million adults and around three million children are now categorised as either overweight or obese.

But research shows that half of men, a third of women and three quarters of parents do not recognise the problem.

Prof Kevin Fenton, of Public Health England, said: “This is an issue that costs the NHS more than £5billion each year – and it is entirely preventable.”

But Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said he wanted Dame Sally to take a tougher approach to sugar.

He explained: “The report lets the food and beverage industries off the hook. It gives the industry no deadline by which to show improvement with the likely result that her words will be ignored. How distressing.”